Star Wolf: Turf War
by EddyPM
Summary: One month after the Aparoid Crisis, rogue pilot and outlaw Wolf O'Donnell comes out of hiding. However, he is the target of a new and dangerous team. With a new meber eager to proove herself, Star Wolf is more than willing to fight back... Star Fox: Command considered non-cannon.
1. Back in the Saddle

**Star Wolf: Turf War**

The Lylat system was safe… at last.

After the Lylat Wars and the Aparoid Crisis, finally the punished planets could breathe free of the threat of impending destruction. Lives were returning to normal, and everything seemed to trudge along in it`s way to peace.

Star Fox was at the height of their success. After saving the system not once, but twice, they became famous figures. Their leader, the young Fox McCloud, became somewhat of a hero, and by all rights he deserved it. His legend grew, and he surpassed even his father.

Everything was going right…

… but for one squadron of fighters…

…for one legendary band of outlaws…

…and more specifically, for one man…

… that meant only one thing:

"It`s fucking boring as hell…"

**Chapter 1: Back in the Saddle**

The meteors drifted lazily around the massive Sargasso space station. It all made for a very, very calming picture.

At least that was what Wolf thought, swirling his glass in his hand before taking a swig. The strong, bitter pang of the beverage reached his brain, and he leaned back in his chair, savoring the taste. He opened his eye again, and looked into the stars again.

When was the last time he had flown his Wolfen? One month?

Too long. That was the right answer.

He allowed himself a moment of reflection before taking another sip. His trigger finger had been growing impatient these days. He needed to be on the battlefield once again. He needed to dogfight someone, to feel the thrill of the kill once again.

He, Leon and Panther had agreed to lay low for a while, after the whole Aparoid situation. Let the wounds heal, he supposed. It was true, after their narrow escape from the Aparoid Core, he had wished to stay as far away from his ship as possible.

Well, now he regretted his decision. He needed to fly again.

He knew that Leon and Panther felt the same way. Leon, at least, had told him that the wait was boring him and getting into his skull, that if he was stuck another week like this, he would start hearing voices. Panther, on the other hand, pretended to be all right with the situation. Wolf couldn`t blame him: while he and Leon had been friends since before the Lykat Wars, nine years ago, Panther had only joined them recently, and had already put his life in his comrades hands. That was, in the least, remarkable and a testament of his loyalty, but stressing nonetheless.

"I need to move…" he told himself.

He watched as two asteroids collided. He breathed deep and sighed.

"If I stay here any longer, I think my brain will collapse just like that."

His eye glanced on the newspaper on his table. In capital letters, the headline was :

EYE OF KATINA TO BE TRANSFERRED TO UNSPECIFIED LOCATION.

"_The Eye of Katina… that gem is worth quite a lot…"_

He looked to the clock on the wall. A rarity, because it was an analogue antique clock. He watched the hand that counted the seconds tick…

…tack…

…tick…

…tack…

…tick…

…_CRASH_…

He had slammed his glass on his table so hard it had broken.

"That`s it." He said, determination in his eye. "One month`s enough."

He stormed out of his own office, knocking back two monkeys that had been eavesdropping on him from behind the door. The monkeys fell on the floor, and Wolf stared at them both. The looked up to the lupine`s purple eye in fear, afraid of what their leader might do to them…

"Scram!" Wolf barked. They scrambled to their feet and rushed to the left, running at the fastest speed they could manage.

He needed that. It made him feel in control again.

He went to the elevator. Pressing the button for the hangar, he waited until the doors closed and looked to the datapad on his wrist. Activating the station-wide comn, he said:

"Leon, Panther, meet me at the hangar in fifteen minutes."

His voice echoed through the station. He crossed his hands behind his back and he waited…

00000

Leon was busy tampering with his sniper rifle in the armory. He was almost done finally fitting the damned lenses back in the scope when he heard the menacing low tone of their leader. He looked up and around, surprised from what her heard.

He immediately dropped the lens he was holding at the floor and rushed out of the armory, not caring about the small _crunch _of glass he heard.

00000

Panther awoke from his sleep and stretched his arms, letting off a yawn. He turned and his arm bumped on something. He could faintly make out a womanly silhouette by his side. He was about to wake her, when the comn sounded. He was instatntly awake.

He jumped off of bed, quickly put his clothes on and ran out of the bedroom before his company even noticed he was out, leaving a red rose on the pillow.

00000

The elevator opened up, and Wolf stepped out into the hangar bay. Every eye in the room turned to look at him, silent. He wasn`t fazed. He merely started to walk to the centre of the large room and pressed a button on the wall.

The floor of the hangar split up, taking a lot of monkeys by surprised. It slowly began to open.

Leon rushed in through a door.

"Wolf! What happened? Is something wrong?" the chameleon asked. Wolf shook his hand.

"Is Panther on the way?" he asked, noting that Leon was already on his flight suit. He probably never took that thing off.

"Hell if I know." Leon said. He then looked at the opened floor, and smiled.

Panther quickly ran in through another door, finishing strapping a few pieces of his flightsuit.

"Did I hear it right, Wolf? Why do you want us here?"

"We`re heading out." He said, curtly.

Both of his wingmates looked between themselves. After a few moments of confusion, a smile began to form on their faces.

The floor finished opening completely. From it, three fighters began to rise. Wolf smirked. The monkeys certainly did know how to keep care of a ship.

The Wolfens were pristine in condition, as if they had never been used. The paintjob was shining, and the sleek design didn`t have a single dent in it. Much different from the state they had left them in after escaping the Aparoids.

Leon didn`t waste any time. He rushed to his, climbed up the ladder and quickly closed the canopy. Panther`s eyes lingered on the red rose painted on his Wolfen`s side, before climbing in as well.

Wolf took a moment to observe the ships. He remembered the first time he had used them, in Fichina. Before that, he had piloted an old _Interceptor, _and the fluidity with which the Wolfen maneuvered far surpassed that old junk he had called ship.

He slowly climbed up the ladder. Flippping himself into the cockpit, he pressed a button and the canopy closed around him. His technological eye patch synchronized with the Wolfen. The controls lit up in front of him, and the canopy darkened. The Wolfen`s were landed in the traditional position: Wolf on center, Leon on the left, and Panther on the right.

"Attention all personnel." A voice came from the speakers on the hangar. "Hangar bay doors are opening: secure launching strip."

The doors opened, depressurizing the room and exposing the landing bridge. Holographic arrows began to run through the length of the bridge, almost urging him to launch himself into the endless abyss of outer space.

He started the pre-flight check. Leon`s face appeared in the comn screen.

"Leon here, all systems operational."

Panther was next.

"Panther here, everything ready."

Wolf looked at the data screen. His blasters were operational, his shields were charged in 100%, smart bomb racks full, fuel at maximum capacity. He ignited the thrusters. The calm but powerfull engine shook the ship, and he felt more at home than he had felt that whole month.

"Wolf reporting, systems are a-go." He breathed, before saying something that was stuck on his throat for a long time: "Star Wolf, deploy!"

He pressed the control stick forward. The ship`s engine pumped more power into the thruster, and the Wolfen slowly moved forward. He could faintly make out Leon`s and Panther`s lurch forward, but he was too concentrated on the strip ahead of him to acknowledge that.

The Wolfen accelerated, sending him against the leather seat as he gained speed. Soon, he was rushing through the bridge, with his two wingmen close behind him.

The Wolfen suddenly cleared the landing strip…

… and Wolf O`Donnell was free again…


	2. Aboard the Longshot

Chapter 2: **Aboard the Longshot**

Wolf looked around. It felt so good to finally be back at the cockpit of his beloved Wolfen. It just felt right.

The sharp noise telling him the comn channel was open brought him out of his trance. He looked to his screen and saw Leon staring right at him.

"So, boss. Are we just out to stretch our wings or what?"

"No, don`t worry. I didn`t call you here for training; at least, not entirely."

Panther cut in on the communication, his face appearing on another screen.

"Then why? I assure you, I am thrilled to be out in space again, but what are we going to do?" he asked, in his smooth voice.

"First let`s practice some formations, see if we are all in fighting shape." He looked around, and saw a meteor heading towards the station. The Sargasso`s automated defenses would usually take care of it, but Wolf had different plans in his mind. "See that asteroid? Let`s blast it before the station can. Copy?"

"Copy."

"Copy."

With that, the Wolfens turned to the left and headed towards the asteroid belt. Dodging a few smaller rocks with precision only seen in seasoned starfighter pilots, they soon arrived at the large rock.

Panther was the first to open fire. The red lasers blasted onto the asteroid`s surface, chipping away. Then Leon fired a charged shot towards the weakened surface, breaking it and exposing the core.

They were getting close to the rock, so both Leon and Panther did a u-turn and headed out. Wolf, however, aimed and pressed the undertrigger on his control stick. From under the ship, a small white object shot and jetted towards the hole. When it impacted on the exposed core, the asteroid exploded in tiny fragments. Wolf smirked. He fired a few blasts onto the larger pieces, vaporizing them. His aim was as deadly as ever, and his ship was operating at peak capacity. He barely could wait to put it up to speed against a real adversary.

"All right. I think that`s enough warm up." Leon said, impatient. "What`s the deal, Wolf?"

"Ever heard of the Eye of Katina?" he asked. Panther`s eyes widened.

"That diamond exposed at Corneria`s Central Museum? The one valued in a couple hundred thousand credits and the pride of the Katinian Ministry of Excavation?"

"Exactly. They`re moving it to another place, aboard the carrier _Longshot_. We are going to intercept it and steal it."

"Are we that desperate to attract attention to ourselves, boss? Isn`t it better to start out small?" Panther asked. Leon chuckled.

"Yeah, right. How about we find some old lady`s pet, Panther? That tame enough for you?"

"No, I just thought that…."

"Stop it." Wolf said. "Panther, I think the Lylat system has forgotten about us long enough. We need contractors; after all, we are still mercenaries. We need to make the headlines, strike big. Understood?"

Panther sighed and nodded. Wolf noticed a small smirk play on his mouth.

"Wouldn`t have it any other way, Wolf." He said, and Wolf could see he was sincere.

"Are we settled?" he asked. When both Leon and Panther nodded in return, he turned his Wolfen to empty space. The other`s copied him. "Then let`s go!"

The Wolfens shot out into space, leaving the Sargasso Station behind them.

00000

_In another part of the Lylat System…_

The _Longshot_ flew graciously through the stars. It`s massive size was made exaggerated in comparison to the small fighters that served as it`s escort.

One such fighter was finishing scouting the front path of the _Longshot. _It really stood out from the rest: it was an _Arwing Interceptor, _a rare model prototype devolped by the Cornerian government to operate in missions where speed was key. It`s pilots usually were always hyperactive and jumpy; usually, because this one was anything but all that.

"Man, I`m tired." The pilot, an orange lynx, said to the white terrier on the comn screen.

"I know. I can barely take it either. This is just… very monotonous." The terrier replied.

"I`m just returning from a long range scout. Guess what? No hostiles, or life, for that matter, in very, very long range around here. Gah, I miss the action."

"Is the great Miyu Lynx complaining?" the terrier added, before giggling.

"Shut it, Fay." She said, cutting communications with her friend. She looked at the cost that call had ammased.

_"Wow. Long range communications is something they never seem to get right, huh?"_

Miyu opened a comn channel to the bridge.

"Everything clear, Captain." She said, yawning, to the dog on her communications screen. The captain, an old war veteran with a lot of grey hair on his head called Lindshaw, nodded and finally gave the order she had been waiting:

"Copy that, Miyu. Dock your _Intercepto_r in dock 3. You earned some rest." He told her. She nodded and began the approach to the docking bay.

Miyu smiled as she completed the manouvre. The sleek cockpit opened up and she jumped out to the cold floor.

"Hey, Lynx!" a mechanic asked her, as she removed her gloves. "Is the _Interceptor _working allright?"

"I think the upper G-Diffuser is off. The left wing also isn`t swinging around right." She said, before chuckling. "I also think I scratched the paint."

The mechanic grumbled something before calling a group to take a closer look at the _Arwing_. Miyu just ignored that and went to her quarters.

Miyu had been quite busy during and after Aparoid Crisis. She, like many other mercenaries, had been called by the Cornerian government to bulk up the forces to prevent the invasion of the planet which, in hindsight, didn`t help much. Afterwards, she had been hired to escort the _Longshot_ to Zoness, for quite a large sum of cash payed in advance. She smirked. Life was good.

"_Although I am feeling a little underwhelmed by this mission." _She thought. "_Maybe this wasn`t such a bright idea after all."_

Ever since she had left Corneria city again, she had had this idea nagging in the back of her mind. She didn`t feel like a pawn, but rather… her talents seemed unused.

She opened her room. It was a really small room, with only a bed and a small bathroom for herself. She didn`t waste any time. She quickly went to the bathroom to wash her face.

She looked at herself in the mirror. Miyu was, by all accounts, a very attractive woman. Her black stripes contrasted with her orange fur, and she still had the piercing on her ear she had gotten before the Lylat Wars. She chucked a handfull of water to her face.

Of course, she couldn`t go five minutes in all of this before someone bothered her. The small communications signal appeared on the mirror. Annoyed, she tapped into it. Lindshaw`s face appeared in front of her.

"Miyu, am I interrupting anything?"

"Sir, no sir. I was just finishing cleaning my face, because, you know: being stuck in a cockpit for a day doesn`t exactly leaves you smelling like a rose bush."

Lindshaw sighed, and Miyu smiled internally.

"Report to the bridge. I need your opinion with something."

"That desperate?" she said. Lindshaw just cut the line.

She sighed once, before getting a towel and wiping the water out of her face. She then made a beeline to the door.

Of course, on her way to the bridge, she just passed by a group of marines that wolf whistled at her. She smirked.

_"Can see, but can`t touch, boys…"_ She thought, giving off a small chuckle.

When she arrived at the bridge, the Captain was busy talking to one of the radar workers.

"Are you sure it`s just interference?" the old german shepard said to the tabby cat on the chair.

"Yes. It was just some problem with the electromagnetic rebound, probably a solar storm. Won`t affect us again, sir."

"Good. Keep up your work." Lindshaw then turned to her. "Ah, Ms. Lynx. Take a seat, please."

Miyu sat next to the entrance. The captain approached her.

"You`ve been doing an awfull lot for us around here."

"I know, but that`s not me. The crew is just shitty at flying."

A couple of eyes were directed at her, mainly a glare from the pilot. Lindshaw, also shook by the comment, gulped down and continued, a bit more nervous.

"I received a message from Corneria Military Command." He said, crossing his arms behind his back. "After examining your performance in both this mission and during the Aparoid Crisis…"

"Which mission they analyzed?"she quickly cut in.

"Katina. You helped save the Science Division, alongside Bill Grey."

_"Oh, right. The day Bill and Fay hooked up." _She thought. That had been quite a day: first, a vast amount of Aparoids descended when she had barely had time to eat breakfast; next thing she knows, Fay and Bill are doing the… dance without pants.

She kept a neutral face and nodded.

"Returning to my previous line of thought, they analyzed both performances, and authorized my recommendation of you."

"What recommendation?"

The Captain motioned her to stand up. She did, and he offered her a handshake.

"Welcome to Corneria Space Militrary, Lieutenant Lynx." He said, firmly.

She looked at his hand, a little surprised. Then, she laughed out loud, much for his dismay and for the amusement of everyone else in the command centre.

"I`m sorry." She said, wiping a tear off of her face. "I don`t work like that."

"But you can`t just…"

"Captain!" one of the communications experts shouted. "Incoming transmission!"

The Captain immediately turned around. Miyu looked over his shoulder.

"Who? On screen."

"No video, just audio."

The comn. expert tapped a few buttons on his dashboard, and a screen lowered in the centre of the room. After a few seconds, a voice spoke, in a slow, calm and collected tune:

"Attention, Assault Carrier _Longshot_. Hand over the Eye of Katina, or we`ll open fire."

_"That voice… I`ve heard it somewhere…"_ Miyu thought, trying to remember.

"Who are you, pirates?" the captain pressed on.

"That does not matter. I repeat, give us the Eye."

"Not a chance. If you want it, then come and get it."Lindshaw said, signaling for a communication break. The line fell, and the screen retracted to the ceiling. "Are they on the radar?"

"No sir. Not here, and not in the next sector."

"Good, so it was a bluff…" Lindshaw said, and Miyu could pick up that even he didn`t trust his own words.

"I wouldn`t count on that…" she said, looking at one window.

Lindshaw followed her gaze, and just barely managed to see the green flash of an engine zipping past their line of view.

"What was that?" he asked.

Suddenly, the ship shook violently.

"Brace for evasive manouvres!"the main pilot said, and, through one of the security monitors, Miyu saw that one of the engines was on fire. "All pilots! Scatter and find whoever did this!"

Lindshaw turned to Miyu.

"You too, Lynx."

She nodded, smiling, and ran away through the hallway that led to the hangar. Quickly, she reached the bay she was stationed in. She flipped herself onto her _Interceptor_, strapped on her gloves and prepared for launch amidst the hectic amabiance of ships launching and mechanics running in semi-panic.

She smirked.

_"Finnaly some action…"_she told herself, before launching her ship onto the fray.


	3. First Encounter

**Chapter 3: First Encounter**

Leon zipped away from the broken engine, laughing manically as he did.

"This is going to be very fun." he said, concentrating again.

"Eyes on the prize, you guys." Wolf said, doing another lap around the ship. When he came to the front, he saw the Hangar doors opening and a lot of fighters coming out of the _Longshot._ "Good to know they don`t waste time. Star Wolf, engage!"

"Come fight. My rose will be the last thing you will ever see." Panther said, jumoing right into the middle of the fighters and blasting some almost instantaneously.

Leon opened fire with a charge shot, managing to hit three at the same time. The chameleon seemed to be having fun.

Two fighters came to chase Wolf.

"Wanna play?" he asked. Then, he rammed his controls in the direction they were coming from. The Wolfen zoomed past the old, outdated fighters, who clumsily turned around almost smashing on one another.

Wolf did a U-turn, and fired a clean shot at one cockpit, incinerating it and blowing one ship up. He boosted towards the other fighter, and the sharp tungsten wings of the Wolfen cut the ship almost cleanly in half. After one second, the two halves exploded violently. Wolf looked back. The fighters had no chance against them.

Panther threw a bomb at another. He managed to catch a couple of fighters.

"Scratch that lot." he said. Wolf saw, as he shot down another fighter, that the defenses were dwindling. The Captain probably didn`t want to have too big a military outfit with him, to seem inconspicuous.

Suddenly, a blue blaster shot through the explosion and hit Panther clean on the side.

"Gah!" he screamed, shocked. "What the hell?!" he tried to use his controls, but they seemed jammed. "That was no normal blast! The motherfucker is using…"

"EMP." Leon said, turning his ship to look at Panther`s Wolfen. "Scored quite a hit."

From within the explosion, another fighter screamed in Leon`s direction. He barely had time to think before the fighter whizzed past him, sending him spinning about.

"Goddamit!" he screamed, trying to adjust his position.

"This one`s mine."Wolf said, locking onto the new opponent and boosting towards it.

He caught up with the ship. He saw it wasn`t the same model as the ones before. Actually, it was quite cutting edge and sleek

_"That`s an Arwing Interceptor."_ He thought, following the fighter in every curve. _"Haven`t seen one of those in a while."_

He shot, but the pilot of the other ship was good. He predicted where every shot of his would land, and barrel rolled accordingly. Wolf kept on the chase, and he was thoroughly enjoying this.

_"This is what I`m talking about." _He thought, concentrated. _"Been a while since I last had an opponent this good. The last one was… McCloud…"_

His thought made him hesitate. The other pilot capitalized on this, and did a looping over his head. He followed him with his eye, his ocular computer leaving a heat trail on the ship`s exhaust.

_"What the heck?"_ he thought. A blue bolt blitzed by him, and he quickly dodged another shot before it could hit.

The roles were reversed. Wolf did a U-turn, but the other pilot turned the ship around and followed him. The ship`s were parallel, both cockpits turned to each other and damn close to each other

Wolf looked up, and caught a glimpse of the other pilot for the first time. It was a female lynx. He raised an eyebrow. She wasn`t wearing any uniform, just a light brown sleeveless jacket, a white undershirt and black cargo pants.

She looked up, and he saw that her eyes were green. Her face wasn`t fixed with murderous intent. Instead, they were… euphoric? Thrilled? He couldn`t tell…

00000

Miyu knew she had heard that voice somewhere. When she had first seen the ships, she had smiled. Now, facing off against the man himself, her hands couldn`t help but shake whilst holding the control stick. Not of fear, though. She was excited beyond any words.

_"Holy shit…" _she thought. "_I`m dogfighting Wolf O`Donnell…"_

She didn`t know what to expect when she had tilted her head up. But what she really wasn`t expecting to see that purple eye piercing into her skull. He wore a black jacket, but she couldn`t see anything else. Just that purple eye looking straight into her green ones.

Suddenly, he twisted his Wolfen. His wings jammed against hers, jolting her out of her trance. She tried to move, but his wings were locking hers in place. She saw him tap into the control panel once, and suddenly her communications window opened up, showing his face.

"Sorry, kiddo. But I got to go." He said, in a calm tone.

He sharply turned his control stick, freeing her, but cutting her wing clean off. She gasped. Her ship was no longer flying at fighting speed. She tried every button, but the jerk had cut her cannons and bombs as well. He probably tore away a part of her electrical system.

"Son of a bitch!"she screamed, punching at her faulty interface.

00000

Wolf let her drifting in space. He wasn`t really interested in killing her off. He joined back with his squad. Panther was still trying to reconnect his ship.

"Try to divert power from the blasters." Leon was giving advice, but Panther`s angry face probably indicated that he wasn`t doing much to help.

"I already tried that! Ugh, this is so embarrassing!"

"Tell me about it…"

"Why you…"

"Panther, Leon, stop it." Wolf intervened. "Leon, these aren`t are old ships. There`s not nearly enough power in the blasters to do that. Panther, divert power from the engines."

Panther did so, and almost instantly, his ship blinked to life again. He breathed in relief.

"Thank you, Wolf."

He nodded, then looked at the _Longshot_. The ship`s massive engine were reduced to mere flaming debris.

"Let`s finish the job."

He boosted towards the Carrier, Leon and Panther at his heels. The comn channel opened up. The captain was dead on the floor, and a pilot was talking on the screen.

"W.. we.. we`ll give you anything you like! Just please… Let us live!"

Wolf grinned at that.

"We did offer you a fair chance. Now that you know who we are, we can`t leave prisoners…" he began.

"No! Please!"

Wolf pressed on his undertrigger. His bomb, along with Panther and Leon`s raced to the ship.

The explosion was impressive. The ship scattered in one huge white flash, leaving the cockpit mostly intact, but annihilating almost everything else. Wolf had been kidding the pilot: they had aimed the bombs purposefully at a safe spot, not harming the cockpit…

…nor the cargo.

"I`m picking up readings."Panther said, tapping on his still flickering radar. It seemed that the EMP had messed with his more delicate systems. "A box, near the explosion site. It is sending a distress signal."

"It`s the Eye." Leon said, and Wolf could hear the coins dropping in his voice.

"Let`s take it to the hideout. I can disable the signal on route."

Wolf was about to acquiesce, when he noticed the ship he had previously thrashed moving around in the corner of his eye computer. He quickly turned his ship, seeing that a side booster managed to turn it clockwise, facing the opposite direction. Wolf shot something at it. The small black tracker glued to the rear of the ship right as it`s main booster sent it soaring through the stars and out of sight.

"One got away." Leon said.

"I`ll give chase." Wolf said. Leon looked at him, intrigued. "You two, get back to Sargasso and store that thing. Panther, make sure to get rid of that before hitting base."

"Got it. Good hunting." Panther said. He and Leon turned their ships away and Panther caught the box in a gravity tether. Then, they both boosted in Sargasso`s direction, leaving Wolf alone.

Wolf rested against his seat. This had all been…exhilarating. On their first outing they had managed to nab a very expensive target…

… and he had managed to dogfight someone good.

_"Speaking of which…" _he tapped on his computer, showing the coordinates of the escaping foe. _"By the looks of it, she`s going back to Corneria. I`ll probably arrive there before her, since I don`t have a wing missing .Then, I`ll track her down myself."_

Satisfied with his plan, he typed in the coordinates to Corneria and accelerated into maximum speed, leaving the automated controls do the rest. He leaned back in the chair, and closed his eye in waiting…

00000

"B…b…bos…boss?.." the pilot of the Longshot asked, with the weak communication`s line he had managed to retrieve.

"Who is this? Report!" General Pepper`s face said, on the monitor. His face was older and more scarred than before, after the incident in Corneria.

"I…I..I`m Flight Lieutenant Jeffrey Aroroo! We`ve been attacked!"

"Attacked? By who? Where is Lindshaw?"

"He`s dead!" a spark erupted behind him, and he quickly turned around. The crew within the cockpit was mostly alive, albeit in shock, and they were working on leaving it operational.

"Dead? Who attacked you?"

Jeffrey paused. He had seen the ships. He had heard the voices. But he didn`t want to believe it… He bit his raccoon lips and said:

"Star Wolf… They are back… "

00000

Miyu was working hard to keep her ship flying. She had been on this for almost an hour, and her damaged scanners indicated that she was approaching the planet.

She broke out of max speed and slowed the ship to reenter the atmosphere.

"_Arwing Interceptor _pilot Miyu Lynx requesting to land on Corneria City`s main port. I need a repair crew; my ship has been badly damaged."

_"Roger that, Miyu. We will dispatch a team of mechanics to docking bay 1345-Z. Please dock there."_

"Thank you Corneria Port. Miyu out."

She turned off communications and concentrated on landing the half-of-a-ship she was piloting.

Corneria was a beautiful planet. Vast oceans covered half of the planet, and whatever wasn`t ocean was flooded with a white sheet of buildings and progress. It was still day on the city she was approaching, Corneria City. The city was the pinnacle of development in the whole system. Huge skyscrapers, adds and highways all flooded the skyline. She flew in a serpentine pattern to the port, a huge mushroom shaped building next to the coast.

One of the docking bays opened up for her. She lined up with it the best she could and entered bumpily the space port. A crew of rats was waiting, but she actually saw their mouths drop when they saw the extent of the damage done to her ship. She turned the thrusters off and jumped opened the cockpit, jumping down.

"Miss…" one of the rats began. She finished dusting off her clothing and looked at him. "How did you manage to cleanly cut your wing from you ship. And, I`ll be damned, almost half of the electrical system too…"

"Had a bad day." She said, walking past the mouse and giving him a tap in the shoulder. "Be sure to leave it good when I`m back, sweetie. You might get handsomely paid…" she said, before walking off the port.

_"Now what to do?"_ she asked herself. She could call Fay, but knowing her, she was with Bill, walking on the park or something. Her stomach grumbled. _"I think i`ll nab some chow. Then I`ll walk around a bit."_

She began to walk to one corner of town. She knew just what she was going to eat.

_"That dinner near home seems like a good idea. I could use a burger."_

She mulled over a few things on her head. She still couldn`t believe she had fought against the whole Star Wolf team. The legendary bandits who were considered the only group apart from Star Fox that could turn the tide of a war. And she disabled two of them!

But, last she heard of them, they had helped Fox and his team destroy the Aparoids, and hadn`t been seen since. Everybody assumed they had sacrificed themselves in the subsequent explosion.

_"That doesn`t seem to be the case. I`m pretty sure the damage to my Interceptor is real, and I saw him, HIM, in the cockpit of that fighter."_ She chuckled. "_Maybe I was so bored I started hallucinating…"_

That was a theory she threw right out of the window very quickly, as a gloved hand grabbed her arm and pulled her into an alleyway.

She struggled and kicked, but a forearm was pressed against her throat and she was shoved against a wall. She heard a low grumble from the shadow in front of her.

"Listen here." She heard. "Don`t try to fight off. I just want to talk."

She finally got a good look at her assailant. Her eyes widened when her eyes set on the purple iris looking at her… again.

"Wo..Wolf O`Donnell…"She said.

"It seems you know me." He said. He released his forearm and let her stand on her own. "But I don`t know you. How about I pay you lunch and we discuss a…"

He stopped for a second, thinking of an expression. Miyu kept her eyes locked on his, and on the vicious looking blaster by his waist. She noticed the rest of his attire. He wore a black coat, black pilot pants and military style boots.

"… business propostion."

She looked at him like she had just seen a ghost. His position was relaxed, but he seemed to be able to snap her in half like a twig if he wished, or blast her between the eyes in a moment`s notice. However, she didn`t feel afraid. On the contrary…

… she felt thrilled. She smiled.

"Of course, O`Donnel. Let`s talk, but you pay dinner."

He nodded, and motioned to out of the alley.

"Shall we?"

* * *

_**This was my first attempt at space combat. Please, tell me if you liked it, hated it, want to marry it or whatever. Reviews are Golden.**_

_**Keep Strong**_

_**Eddy**_


	4. Business Proposition

Chapter 4:

The greasy burger landed in front of Miyu. She licked her lips and grabbed it. Wolf kept his face neutral, but she could see that he was struggling to keep it that way.

"What?" she asked. "Does the place gives you the shivers?" she grinned.

"No... It`s quite charming." He said, giving a look around.

They had walked through the streets for around fifteen minutes, neither saying a word. Of course, they walked through a less watched part of town: while she could have passed as anyone, it was quite difficult to confuse Wolf O'Donnell with anyone else. The eye patch was just a dead giveaway…

"Charming my ass." She said, taking a huge bite off of her burger. She was hungry as all hell. "I know the place is anything but that."

It was true. The place was cramped, dirty dinner near her house. She did not live in a pristine part of Corneria City to begin with, but this dinner was pushing the limit. She had been going to the restaurant for about ten years, and she had grown used the grime around her. There were a few patrons as well that night. The cook, Jack, an old fat dog, knew the way she liked her food: packed to the brim with everything she was allowed to.

"You got that right." He said, looking back at her. He put both his elbows on the table. She took another bite off her burger. "Can we discuss my proposition?"

"Sure. Just let me swallow." She said, her mouth full. She gulped down. "Don`t take that the wrong way."

He rolled his eyes, making her smile widen.

"I`m not here to discuss innuendos, Ms. Miyu." He said.

"How do you know my name?" she asked, leaning back in the chair.

"I`ve had plenty of time waiting for you to get here. Sorry about your ship." He said, nonchalantly

"You could have been more gentle. You nearly ripped it in half." She said, leaning on the table. He leaned back further in his chair.

"We were dogfighting. I don`t regret it; I am just apologizing." He said, with his eye closed. He opened it. "Now, can we move on?"

"Sure. What is this business proposition that you seem to think I am in dull need of?"

"Aren`t you? From what I noticed, I just busted up your pay on your last job."

Miyu paused for a moment, thinking. Wolf looked at the TV screen on the wall. The Corneria News Report was on, and Moyu soon listened what they were talking about.

"In Breaking news this morning, the carrier _Longshot _has been shot down and it`s cargo has been stolen. Pirates? Maybe, but eye witness say otherwise. Who they are? Find out later this evening."

Miyu looked at the screen. A lion and an owl were presenting the news.

"As you can see, news spread fast. You aren`t within the casualties list, but neither are you there, alive and stranded. That means you are officially MIA. And people will start looking for you soon."

Miyu looked back at him, now serious. He continued.

"And both the Corneria Space Military and the Katinian Ministry of Excavation have no reason to keep you alive when they find you."

"Why do you say that?" she asked.

"You were not a soldier, so they didn`t trust you. The mission was a failure, but the ship was highly secretive and protected. For an outsider, this does look like an inside job…"

She fixed him with a glare. He didn`t even flinch.

"So, the way I see it, you have two possibilities…" he said, raising both hands. He opened one. "Either you turn yourself in and pray for whoever you believe in to keep you alive…"

She continued to glare at him. He opened his other hand.

"Or you accept my deal, and live to tell the tale."

"Are you threatening me?" she asked, deadpan.

"No, I am not."

"Then what are you doing?"

He approached the table, and looked her like he was looking through her.

"I am offering you an opportunity to join Star Wolf."

She widened her eyes. Her brain froze for a second. Had she heard just right?

Wolf`s expression remained unchanged. She leaned back in her chair and looked at the ceiling. Then, she chuckled.

"Wait a second."she said, raising her hands. "Did you really just offer me a job, or do I need to get my ears checked."

His gaze hardened. She stopped chuckling and ran a hand in her head.

"Holy shit. You did just offer me a job…"

She rubbed her temples and breathed deeply. This was just a lot to handle.

" Let me get this straight: you, Wolf O'Donnell, leader of probably the best group of mercenaries in the galaxy, is offering me, Miyu Lynx, a freelancer on the run, a spot in your group, Star Wolf?" she asked. He nodded. "Why?"

He crossed his arms. His eye was still fixed on her.

"Look, kid, I`ve been in this job for a long time. I know talent when I see it. You went against my team, which you just called the best in the galaxy, and managed to knock my two wingmen, one who has about the same experience in piloting Wolfens as me, out of combat. That takes three things: a good ship, more courage than half of Corneria`s High Council put together, and an impressive amount of skill. You have two. All you are missing is a good ship."

She looked at him with some sort of a death glare.

"So, what do you say?"

"Me? How do I know this isn`t some sort of trap?" she asked. He seemed confused by that.

"How come?"

"You…" she said, pointing an accusatory finger at him. "Were declared dead. KIA. Big goddam heroes."

"Actually, MIA would be a better definition. We were just like you are now, except we actually helped someone instead just vanishing. Also no one came looking for us. Why bother? If they had found us, we`d kill them. If they didn`t, it was just three more criminals missing in the Lylat system. It didn`t offer them any advantages from what they had without looking for us." He leaned to the table. "But that is beyond the point. This is no trap, you have my word. I simply want the best of the best, and from what I read in your service record and from what I`ve seen personally, you more than qualify."

She let her guard down a little. He did sound sincere, and what he was offering her was the opportunity of a lifetime. She smiled.

"You know, the last person who offered me a job is dead now."

He grinned.

"Well, let`s hope you get rid of that curse."

He extended one hand to her.

"What do you say? In or not?"

She looked at that hand. She was being offered something she had never dreamed she would be able to achieve. To cross the stars and be part of a legendary team. Fay would tell her to go for it. She would work with the man himself, and receive good pay for it. She smirked. She brought her hand up and squeezed his. With a firm handshake, she firmed the deal.

"I`m in."

"Welcome to Star Wolf, Miyu."

00000

The room was dark and cramped. A table occupied almost one half of it. On one side, stood three people. On the other, someone was sitting down on a chair. A TV to the side was just finished reporting on a news flash about the recent attack on the _Longshot_. The person sitting behind the desk lit a cigarette and dragged, leaving the room in silence before he exhaled.

" You get it? The people who did this are our new targets." The person was clearly a woman. One of the people on the other side of the table, a brown eagle, placed a hand on the table and said:

" Why, Liz? Why would we want to chase down a couple of pirates?"

Liz leaned forward. She was a bloody-red lizard with black messy hair, and a claw mark ran over the right side of her face.

" Because those aren`t just pirates, Pharris. Those people…" she dragged once more on her cigarette. She exhaled very slowly, letting the smoke dissipate before continuing." … are none other than Star Wolf."

Pharris`s fist clenched.

" Yeah, you do understand, don`t you? This…" she pointed at the TV. "Isn`t like all we did before. They have the Cornerian Military on their tails. They have the Eye of Katina. They have the Wolfens. This would be our first calling to the Lylat System…"

She leaned in closer to the table.

" We are watching."

00000

Wolf released her hand. She intertwined both her hands and placed her chin on her fingers.

" Does this means I am getting my own Wolfen?"

The question had gotten him by surprise. He hadn`t thought that far ahead. Luckily, or unluckily, they had one spare.

" Yes, but it`s not optimal. You will have to make a few modifications to it."

" I don`t mind that. Though why do you have one to spare." She asked, and he was caught in a tight spot. He did manage to maintain his cool, however.

" Let`s just say we don`t have a fourth member in a long time."

That seemed to put a dampener in her mood. Her smile dropped, but it was quickly reformed.

" Well, I am anxious to meet the rest of your… our… team." She said. "Can we go?"

Wolf raised an eyebrow. That mood swing was very quick. He hoped he wouldn`t have had problems with Panther and Wolf because of that.

" Maybe I should brief you on them before we get there. That way, you won`t have to ask much of them." He stood up, but Miyu looked at him and shook her head. He looked back at her, confused. " What?"

" The deal said that you would pay for my food." She said, smiling. He rolled his eyes and took his credit chit out of his pocket before walking to the counter, Miyu following him.

_"This is going to be a long day…"_

* * *

**This chapter is smaller than the others, but I can`t fill the blanks with flying segments. I`ll answer a question from a reader, then. Let`s see...**

**Troygroones asks: Is Wolf falling for Miyu? And is Fox married to Krystal?**

**EddyPM answers: Well, I can answer one of those. Yes, Fox and Krystal are married. Fox and Krystal will make an appearance, as will the rest of Star Fox.  
**

**Well, that`s all. I hope you enjoyed it. Keep on the lookout for the next chapter**

**Keep strong**

**Eddy**


	5. Saying Goodbye

Chapter 5:

After paying for the burger, Wolf and Miyu went to the street.

" So, briefing on the team?" she asked. Wolf looked at her and begun.

"Besides me, there`s two others: Leon and Panther." He said, as they begun to walk aimlessly. " Leon has been my friend since the original Star Wolf team. We`ve been blasting our way through Lylat since the Wars. He`s... relatively nice to people. Just don`t get on his bad side."

" Or else?" she teased.

" Or else you get a bullet lodged in your head." She recoiled a bit when he said that. " Quite a few people made that mistake, and the galaxy is a few people smartasses shorter because of it."

Miyu raised one eyebrow. Wolf cleared his throat. The sky was beginning to darken.

" Although, in your case, I think the other guy might be more of a problem."

"Why so?" she asked.

"His name is Panther, and he`s… a good pilot, but he tends to think he`s more of a ladies cat more than anything. It gets embarrassing sometimes. You`ll get used to it. Just be careful with his… approaches."

" I`ve had that problem before."

" Trust me, this is going to be much worse than any previous bachelor you might have faced."

She chuckled. He looked at his wrist. Leon and Panther should have arrived at the hideout by now. He should get his ship and go. He turned to Miyu.

" Listen, my ship isn`t docked in any normal docking port." She looked at him puzzled. " I can`t risk getting a photo taken, and there are many illegal ports to assure that that doesn`t happen. I`ll send you some coordinates in this thing." He took a small wristband-like device and handed it to her. She strapped it on. It was a small communicator. "When you clear the planet, go to that spot. I`ll be waiting, and then we`ll go to our hideout. Deal?"

" Deal. Do I need to pack?" she asked.

" If you want to. But don`t exaggerate, please." He said, looking to another direction: " I should go. I`ll be waiting for you."

With that, he jammed his hands in his pockets and walked away. Miyu observed him until he turned a corner. Suddenly, her wrist communicator flashed. In it, were the coordinates Wolf had talked about. They weren`t very far from the planet.

She thought about time. She wasn`t going to pack anything. She would go to her apartment and tell her landlord she would be away for some time, then she would say bye to Fay and head to get her ship back.

_" Yeah, that seems like a good plan."_ She thought. She began to walk to her apartment. _" How the hell am I going to talk to Fay about this?" _

Even though they had been friends since they began to fly, Fay`s moral fiber was leagues stronger than hers. The white terrier was almost as good in flying as she was, but both of them knew Miyu was still the best between the two of them.

She entered the old apartment block. The place wasn`t shinny, but it still was a good home. She went up the stairs of the grey building. Her living space was in the same room as the landlord`s, a turtle. She knocked on his door.

The man wasn`t known for his speed, though. She waited some good ten minutes before the door finally opened and revealed the turtle. He wore glasses and a shirt decorated with various flower designs, but he was much, much taller than Miyu. He made a gruff face when he saw her.

" What, Miyu? You`re not going to pay me this month again?"

"No, Arnold. I came by to tell you I`ll be leaving for quite a while. If you would be kind enough to keep my apartment locked I would be grateful."

" And why should I do that?" he asked, crossing his arms. His tiny eyes were analyzing every small detail of her body. His gaze was one of the few things that could make her uncomfortable. "Your rent is late by a few months now."

Miyu took her time to think. He was right: her rent was late by three months. He could just tell her to hit the road, but she wanted to keep the apartment for her. Maybe she would need it someday. She thought about what she could use to influence him. His eyes moving through her body did tell her of something, but she was disgusted just by the simple thought of it. Instead, remembering the man who had just hired her, she set her eyes on his and began, dead-serious:

"I got a job, recently." She said, and his eyes became sterner. "A very good job, with a lot of pay. But this isn`t your normal job. Far from it. I`ll be heading around the system with the best of the best. These people won`t like it if I tell them that, because of them, I lost my apartment. They would like a lot less if I told them my landlord was on the verge of suggesting I pay with my body…" his eyes widened. He nervously shifted his feet and uncrossed his arms. " If you as much as take a single sock out of my apartment, we`ll come get you. And then I`ll take pleasure in separating your shell from your back… one nerve at a time."

He wa almost sweating cold. He stuttered a little:

"B…bu… but who are these people?" he asked.

"I can`t tell you. But do keep an eye on the news. You`ll hear about them today."

With that, she turned on her heels and went back to the stairs, leaving a dumbfounded Arnold behind her. She chuckled to herself. She liked making that threat. It had felt really, really good.

As she went down the stairs, she tapped on the device on her wrist, fidgeting with a few functions until she found the proper communicator. She dialed a number and waited for the call to be complete. Suddenly, a white terrier appeared on the screen.

Fay seemed to be a little out of breath. Her bow wasn`t perfectly aligned with her head, and she was huffing a little. She squinted her eyes a little, before finally realizing who it was.

" Miyu?!" Fay asked. She looked to someone outside of the screen and hushed something. She adjusted the bow on her head and turned to the screen again. "Hey! I thought you might have died on that ship! Don`t ever scare me off like that again!"

"Yeah, of course. You were so worried that you are spending precious time with Bill, huh? Hi Bill." She said

"Hi, Miyu." A male voice said, out of the screen. Fay did a sharp motion. "Ouch! What was that for?"

" For nothing , sweetie." Fay turned back to the screen. "You got me, Miyu. But why are you calling me?"

" Just to tell you I got a job opportunity a few hours ago."

" Really? What?"

Miyu bit her lip. That was enough for Fay.

"Miyu, what have you gotten yourself into this time?" she said, placing her face in her other palm.

"Is Bill still there?"

"No. He went to the kitchen. What happened?"

Miyu hesitated for a bit.

" I… got involved in a dogfight. With no one else than Wolf O'Donnell." Miyu paused for a bit. Fay`s jaw hung open. Her other palm came to cover her mouth. "Next thing I know, he pays me a burger and hires me to join Star Wolf."

Fay just stared at the screen. She gulped down.

" And what are you going to do about it?" she asked, her voice a little shaken.

" I`ll join them." She said. Fay blinked.

"Wow." Fay nodded. "Any other person would tell you you were under arrest…"

"But you are not any other person, Fay." Miyu smiled. "Don`t tell it to Bill, okay?"

Fay scoffed, but Miyu could still feel her nervousness. Fay wasn`t being as understanding as Miyu thought she would have been.

" Don`t sweat it, Miyu. I`ll be quiet. Besides, if they`re back, you are going to be news pretty soon."

Miyu laughed. She waved a goodbye. Fay did as well, and they broke communications. Straightening her jacket, Miyu looked forward, out of the door. It was time to get her wings back on…

00000

Wolf was talking to Leon on the comn. He didn`t seem very happy with the fact that they had a new member.

"And a woman, at that!" the chameleon said, throwing his arms in the air.

" You have a problem with that, Leon?" Wolf asked, his arms crossed.

"Me? No. But Panther is going to go absolutely nuts over this!"

"He`ll have to get used to it. She is a good pilot. You`ve seen her fly, Leon. She`ll make an excellent addition."

" This isn`t some attempt at looking like Star Fox, is it?"

Wolf stared at the screen. Leon immediately regretted his phrase.

"No, Leon. I could care less if Star Fox has a woman among their ranks or not. All I care is that their pilots are good. Anything else you want to talk about concerning my choice for members?" at Leon`s silence, he leaned back into his chair. "I thought so. I`ll be seeing you soon. She must be arriving."

Leon nodded and shut off communications. Wolf sighed and touched his non-existant eye. Sometimes the pain still bugged him, but he had gotten used to that. What scars stayed with him, though, were very deep and he doubted they would fade.

His radar pinged, warning him of a ship coming near. He adjusted his Wolfen and looked in the direction of the ship. It was Miyu`s _Interceptor._ One wing of the ship, the one he tore off, was being substituted by an ugly silver wing.

_"Well, she won`t be using that ship for long." _

The comn panel opened. Miyu`s lynx face stared at him.

"You ready to get going?" she asked him.

" Yes. We need to make up for lost time. It`s been almost a day. I think my people are worried I died or something along those lines."

" You? Dead? I doubt it. " she flicked a few switches on her side. He engaged the max throttle of his engine.

" Follow me. We`ll be ther in no time."

They both speeded in the direction Wolf had pointed out. Wolf looked with his eye patch at the screen. Even from the screen his eye patch gave off that her heartbeat was rushed and that her pupils were dilated. She was nervous.

" Are you nervous or anxious?" he asked. When she looked at the screen in mild shock, he simply tapped his eye patch computer. "It has it`s perks."

She chuckled, and her heartbeat dropped a little. He was satisfied to see that. She would need herself steady to face Leon and Panther.

In a few hours, they were arriving at the Sargasso Space Station. He looked at the screen. Miyu had calmed down a lot. He smiled

" We`re here. Ready?" he asked. She smirked.

" Hell yes."

He pulled the throttle down, and Miyu copied him. The stars around them slowed down.

" Welcome to Sargasso." He said, before both their ships stopped completely in front of the station. Miyu was wide eyed at it`s size. From the corner of his ear, Wolf managed to listen her voice say, in an awestruck manner:

"It looks like shit."

That managed to get a chuckle out of Wolf.

Not an easy feat.

He was impressed.


	6. The Message

Chapter 6:

Wolf hailed the base. Leon`s face appeared over the communicator.

"Bout time you showed up, Wolf. I was begging to think you ran away."

"Bite me, Powalski." He said. "Open the landing bridge."

Leon chuckled and pressed a button on the mainframe. Then, he looked at another monitor.

"You the new recruit?" he asked, and Wolf`s screen split and Miyu appeared.

"Yeah. Name`s Miyu." She said, quite upbeat, Wolf noticed. Leon scoffed.

"All right. Panther`s going to have a wonderful day when he discovers this."

Wolf disengaged communications. The hangar bay doors opened and he aligned his Wolfen with the landing strip, Miyu following close behind with her Arwing Interceptor. The gravity locks on the strip guided the ship back towards the hangar. He could see a large crowd of his subordinates clapping and cheering in the hangar. He smirked. A little self indulging wouldn`t hurt.

As his Wolfen stopped, it`s cockpit opened, and he flipped himself to the ground, raising his arms in triumph. His Wolfen sunk into the ground, to it`s docking bay. Miyu`s ship also docked. When she jumped from the cockpit, however, she received quite a few distrustful looks from the crew, and Wolf even saw a few monkeys reach discreetly for their guns. He raised his hand and sent a stare their way. The monkeys immediately released the tense position.

Suddenly Leon appeared from within the crowd. He came near Wolf. After a second, he broke into a smile. He offered Wolf a handshake, which he gladly took.

"We`re back in business." He said. Wolf smiled

"Yes we are." Wolf said. He looked back to their newest member. "And with one more good pilot on our team."

Miyu was looking around the hangar. A few monkeys were examining her. She had her hands in her pockets, looking uninterested. Upon noticing Leon, she strided over to them both.

"So, you`re Leon." She said. Leon released the handshake and crossed his arms.

"Yes. You are Miyu Lynx, correct?" he asked. She nodded. Then, Leon turned to Wolf. "I don`t think this was a very good move from our friend here, but anyone he considers good is good in my books too. Welcome to Star Wolf. " he offered her a handshake as well, though it wasn`t nearly as attached as it had been when he offered it to Wolf. Miyu gladly took his hand and shook. His chameleon eyes seemed to pierce through her, and she almost immediately felt that this was one hell of a dangerous man.

"Thank you. I`ll do my best." She almost slipped a 'sir', but stopped herself before it left her throat.

"You`re welcome. Now, if you excuse me, I still have a rifle to check."

With that, he turned around and left the hangar, heading to the armory, where he had stashed had left his rifle in the middle of the process of reassembling. Wolf crossed his arms and looked at Miyu.

"Don`t worry. He`ll end up loosening up a little bit." He looked around. "I have absolutely no idea where the other one is. Come on. I`ll show you your quarters; you must be tired."

She nodded. However, before they both went out of the hangar, Wolf barked an order to the monkeys:

"Listen up! This here is our new member. I want all of you to treat her with respect and dignity. She`ll need a new ship. There`s a broken Wolfen in Hangar 15. I want that Wolfen repaired in the smallest amount of time possible. Got it?!"He barked. Some monkeys nodded and a few even gave off a salute, to Miyu surprise.

Nodding to the monkeys, Wolf signaled her to follow him. She did, and they exited through the same door Leon had gone through.

Her footsteps echoed through the large base. A lot of the crew was probably asleep, she guessed. After all, it was late in the Galactic Standard Time, and she was feeling rather tired herself.

Wolf took her to an elevator. She climbed in after him.

"Now`s as good a time as any." He said, pressing the button to the higher level. Miyu looked at him. "Let`s set out some rules right now."

She leaned into the elevator`s wall. She crossed her legs.

"Shoot." She said, with a smirk.

"First of all, you obey strictly my orders. No one else`s. Second, we will begin to do training exercises to keep you in tune with the rest of our team. You`ll begin tomorrow. Got it?"

Miyu sighed. She thought she was done with training exercises.

"Yes, sir." He raised his paw at that.

"That won`t be necessary. There`s no need to call me sir. I just call the shots. Third, you will earn the same as the other two. Don`t be greedy or try to take advantage of any of us: I`ll know." He said, and his eye got sterner for a second. Miyu sensed some history there. She was about to ask, but decided against it, not willing to push her luck.

The elevator opened. A hallway with five doors was presented to her. Wolf signaled her to follow him. There were three doors on the left of the hallway and two others on the right. He took her to the farthest door on the left and punched in a code.

"The code is set to default, but you may change it anytime you want." He said.

"Great. Wouldn`t want that Panther fellow, whoever he is, creeping inside when I`m taking a shower."

"On that…" he said, turning his head to her. The door opened. "We can agree."

He signaled her to go inside. She found a very spacious room. A bed and wardrobe took a lot, but there was still enough room for a desk, a small TV screen and various drawers. She even saw a gun rack in one of the walls.

"This is your room. You may outfit it in any way you like. Just please… From the door out, we`re supposed to look professional."

She laughed at that. He allowed himself a small smile, and made to leave.

"I hope you like it. My room is the second door on the other side. Leon`s in between you and Panther, just to make sure." He was about to leave when he stopped and remembered. "Reunion on the lounge in 30 minutes. It is located on the floor below. The big door, it`s impossible to miss. I suggest you come."

With that, he was gone. The door slid back to closed and she heard a lock clicking into place. She breathed in relieve, and her shoulders slumped.

She threw herself in the bed. Then, she noticed that there was a small bathroom in the room. She went to check it out. She found that it was pretty similar to the one she had aboard the _Longshot_. She decided to freshen up a little. She had gone, after all, about almost a full day without a bath.

00000

Wolf`s office was the door next to his room. He looked back at his desk. The broken glass from earlier was still there,the antique clock was still ticking… But the whole atmosphere of the room was just different.

It didn`t hold nearly the same amount of dread it had been holding the past few days. It was just his place of work now. Not his cell.

He went to his table. He liked to call the room his "Antique Room": besides the watch, the table was made out of wood, there were some ancient weapons in displays on the walls, and there was even a bullseye on the wall. He picked one dart and threw it at the target.

"Bulseye." He said to himself, as the dart embedded itself on the centre of the object.

He ran his hand through the table, feeling the wood. Then, he brought his hand to his missing eye, covered in his technological computer/eye patch. He removed it and placed it over the table. Not looking at how the wound was closing, he picked his leather eye patch and strapped it on. Maybe the other one was more comfortable and helped him more, but, while with just himself for company, he preferred his old, traditional eye patch.

He sat down heavily on the chair and picked up another glass from his drawer. Then, he picked the same bottle from which he was drinking earlier and poured some whiskey to himself.

Leaning back and taking a sip, he reflected on the day. He really didn`t expect to be getting another member so soon. Hell, he hadn`t even thought about having someone else since Andrew went out to make his Venom Coalition and Pigma betrayed them. To accept Panther he had taken months into analyzing his personality, his skill and his overall character. This time, he simply blinked and found a good pilot.

He had heard of Miyu, of course. Never having fought against her before, he really didn`t know what to expect. However, he did NOT expect her taking out both Panther and Leon in almost a single, swift maneuver. And besides, he had also liked her style. Not that they needed any more cockiness on the team, Leon and Panther could hold their own on that account, but something about her just seemed… perfect for a fit in the team.

"_Now you are just making excuses, O'Donnell." _He thought to himself, chuckling.

Wolf looked at the clock on the wall. Half an hour had already passed. Time really did flew by. He stood up and unzipped his jacket. Under it, he was wearing a brown simple shirt. He changed his eye patches and headed out to the mess.

One elevator trip later, he was stepped into the small lounge that was private for Star Wolf. The room was very spacious, with a bar, a pool table and a big TV set. It was off at the moment, as Panther was playing pool with a bunny. They didn`t notice Wolf come in. Panther was behind the bunny, helping her assume the position.

"Now now…" he said, lowly, into her ear. She was bent over the table in concentration, and he was glued on her back, his arms helping her lift the cue stick to the right position. Her eyes were sharp on the white ball. "… hit."

She did, and the white ball hit the 8 ball at full speed, sending it careening towards the other side of the table, where it pocketed. The bunny skipped of joy, and Panther smirked.

"You play well…" he said, whispering to her ear. She smiled and leaned back into him. "Maybe later we can play another game…" he said, suggestively. Her smile widened.

Wolf cleaned his throat. The bunny`s head snapped to him, but Panther just smirked and gave him a sideways glance.

"Hi boss." He said. The bunny turned to him and whispered something to his ear. He smiled wider, and then the bunny quickly exited the room, walking past Wolf, who was still standing by the door.

"Who is she?" Wolf asked, walking toward the table. Panther was wearing a black tank top and blue cargo pants.

"Someone I`ve been stalking for quite some time now. About the Eye, I`ve placed it in the safe. I ditched the tracker long before we arrived."

Wolf grabbed a stick from the rack on the wall.

"Panther, I need to talk to you." He said, positioning himself to hit the cue ball. In one swift strike, he managed to pocket two of the remaining balls.

"Shoot."

"We have a new member."

"Do we now?" he asked. Wolf had the impression he was smiling, but he was too concentrated on hitting the cue ball to notice. "That means I am not the new guy anymore? Finally."

Wolf smirked and turned to look at him.

"Well, technically, you are still the new guy."

Panther raised an eyebrow. He was about to ask, when the door opened and Miyu strolled in.

The reaction in Panther`s face was immediate. His mouth opened slightly and his eyes widened. His ears stood still on top of his head.

"You must be Panther, right?" Miyu said, walking to him and extending her hand to him. "Nice to meet you."

Panther dully shook her hand. Wolf sniffed at the air. She must`ve taken a shower, because the aroma around her was very sweet.

"Oh, a pool table." She said, grabbing a stick.

"This is the new gal, Miyu."

"I can introduce myself, Wolf." She said, as she picked the balls from the pockets and arranged them in a triangle.

Panther turned to Wolf. Wolf could see the smile inside of Panther`s eyes. As Miyu leaned in to aim the cue ball, Panther stood behind her. Wolf rolled his eye.

This was not going to play out well for Panther.

00000

Miyu concentrated on the cue ball. Suddenly, she felt something behind her. She bit her lip and smiled.

"Hm… if you managed to impress Wolf, then you must be a very sharp pilot…" she heard, in a sultry voice.

"I like to think so."

Panther got closer.

"And I bet you are sharper in… other areas as well…"

Miyu almost laughed out loud. But instead, she brought her elbow back, as if getting enough room to strike the cue ball. The elbow, not so accidently, managed to hit Panther in the ribs. He hissed, and quickly stepped back. Miyu hit the cue ball, and scattered the rest of the balls through the table.

"Sorry. Didn`t see you there." She moved to the other side of the table. Wolf chuckled and leaned into the pillar. Panther stopped rubbing his chest, but his expression was still strained. He gulped down the pain as best as he could, and leaned into the table like nothing had happened. He made the sensible thing this time and stayed opposite to her.

"No problem. Now where was I?"

"About my skills." She said, as she leaned in for another hit. "I assure you they are better than most, Panther."

She saw from the corner of her eye that Wolf was shaking his head, chuckling. She smirked again.

"Well, I was just thinking that, since we are going to be teammates, we should…" Panther lowered himself further on the table and directed both of his yellow orbs to Miyu."… get to know each other a little better."

"_Stay just like that, pleae."_ Miyu thought. She rapidly struck the cue ball.

It hit one ball, slammed against the wall of the table, shot up…

… and striked against Panther`s nose with force.

"_Yes!"_

Wolf suddenly burst out laughing. Panther clutched his nose in pain. Miyu put the stick against the wall.

"I guess not, Panther. We`ll get to know each other, but not in the way you are thinking." She released the stick.

Wolf stopped laughing. Leon entered through the door. He looked at the smirking lynx, the chuckling wolf and at the panther cluctching his nose in pain and sighed.

"Why do I miss all the fun?" he said, walking to the bar and grabbing bottle of Vodka for himself.

Wolf, having regained his composure, walked to the television and turned it on. The news channel quickly came into the image.

"Why did you call us, Wolf?" Leon asked, pouring himself a glass. Wolf turned the volume up and walked back.

"I think I broke something…"Wolf whispered to himself, before shooting a death glare to Miyu and raising his voice to an audible tone, still muffled by his hand. "That is, besides introducing the lovely new member of our team."

"I just thought…" Wolf said, turning to Panther. "We might do good in observing the backlash of our most recent operation."

Th rest of the team focused on the TV. The news anchor, the same Lion from earlier, was finishing the last bit of news.

"… and that`s all for the Zonessian Resort Scandal. Now, the big news of the day. The Carrier _Longshot, _while crossing the system, was attacked and destroyed, and it`s cargo, a valuable jewel from Katina, was stolen. Initial reports told about a pirate, but information has confirmed it was far, far worse."

The scene shifted to the opening of the _Longshot_`s sealed cockpit. Wolf recognized one of the forms clambering out of the metal case- the pilot with whom he had briefly talked to.

Then, the reporter, a white cat, begun interviewing the pilot, who didn`t look at her at first.

"_Mister, are you the pilot of the carrier_?" she asked, shoving the mic on his face. AT the raccoon`s almost unnoticeable nod, she continued. "What happened? "

"_We were travelling, you know. Doing nothing special. Then all of a sudden, we`re battling. I can`t remember much, just that… that…!" _he said, before cowering.

The reporter, without as much as flinching, continued the questions.

_"Sir, who do you think did all this?"_

The raccoon looked at her for the first time. His eyes were filled with fear.

_"I don`t think someone did this. I know someone did this."_

_"Yes, but who did it?"_

The raccoon gulped. He was sweating.

_"Star Wolf."_

The cat stumbled on her step. The guards around them looked at him like he was insane.

_"B…But sir, Star Wolf disappeared one month ago. T… They were killed, weren`t they?"_

"You hoped we did, didn`t you?!" Leon said, forgoing the glass and instead raising the entire bottle. He brought his lips to it and gulped down.

Miyu looked around for the other`s reaction. Panther had stopped rubbing his nose and was smiling to himself. Wolf was leaning on the bar, his face stern but with a smile playing on his lips.

_"I don`t know… but I`m sure it was them. I saw them, clear as daylight."_

The guards started looking between themselves. No one on the hangar was believing what was being said.

"I missed those faces." Panther said. "Like they just think we are ghosts of some sort…"

"They might as well." Wolf said, loosing interest in the rest of the interview. "We were pretty much dead to the lot of the Lylat System. Now that we`re back, they`ll start dreading and fearing. They might think that poor sod is crazy…" Wolf turned and looked at all of them. "…but we`ll see about that after a few more jobs."

Miyu smiled. This was going to be very fun.

Suddenly, the news feed cut off. Wolf quickly turned to the TV as the sound vanished and was substituted by white noise. Instead of the interview, the screen displayed a white eye in a black background.

"Is the TV supposed to be doing that?" Miyu asked.

"Not that I know off." Leon said.

"It was working just fine a few minutes ago."

A booming voice sounded from the speakers.

"_How… disappointing, Star Wolf…"_

Miyu felt every hair on her neck stay on it`s tip. The voice was deep, with the distinct sound of a distortion device.

"_You could have disappeared. Stayed out of sight. Lived the rest of your filthy little lives in peace…"_

Miyu saw Wolf tense. His eye narrowed.

" _Instead, you chose to come back to your life of dirt. You chose to return to the civilized world, to terrorize the lifes of innocents…_"

Leon grabbed the remote and tried to change the channel. The screen stayed the same.

_"... We`ll hunt you down, and reap your corrupt lives from this world. Letthis warn every other criminal in the Lylat System. Everyone who thinks they can make a living through the disgrace of others…"_

The eye started to fade. Miyu clenched her fist. Wolf was snarling.

_"We are watching…"_

* * *

**I am sorry about the lack of chapters. My schedule was hectic this past month, and it will probably stay this way. I`ll TRY (remeber, TRY!) to keep the updates fairly paced, but cut me some slack, please...**

**BTW, I want to thank every one who left a review You guys are pretty damn awesome!**


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